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AEW Fyter Fest Nights 1 & 2 (July 14 & 21, 2021) Results & Afterthoughts

Fyter Fest was a series of professional wrestling television special episodes produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It was the third event in the Fyter Fest chronology and the second event in AEW's "Welcome Back" tour, celebrating AEW's resumption of live touring during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two-week event was broadcast on TNT as a two-part special of AEW's weekly television program, Dynamite. The first night aired on July 14, 2021, and was held at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Cedar Park, Texas while the second night was held on July 21, 2021 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.

Night 1 (July 14, 2021)

Singles Match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship

Jon Moxley (c) def. Karl Anderson by pinfall

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but Moxley's matches do absolutely nothing for me. I didn't see what was the big deal about him when he was in WWE and I definitely don't see it in this company when he doesn't have much more talented workers from WWE or NJPW to hide his shortcoming behind. Karl Anderson is a great worker, but this felt like a clash of styles for the most part for me. I found myself bored out of my mind watching this. I'll give them props for keeping the live crowd invested, but this definitely wasn't for me with all of the brawling at ringside and sloppy offense when they finally got into the ring.

I still think it was a massive mistake to allow Moxley to retain the title over KENTA when New Japan had the golden opportunity to take their title back. I get that AEW and Tony Khan are itching to get more NJPW talent over to work matches on Dynamite to bump up perception of both companies in the states, but I feel like they don't have to do this to the detriment of that title.

Singles Match for the FTW World Championship

Ricky Starks (with Hook and Powerhouse Hobbs) def. Brian Cage (c) by pinfall

Boy, this was a rough match to watch - and not in a good way either. Another clash of styles in my honest opinion, plus it looked like it was a little too soon to have Starks working matches right after coming back from his neck injury. I had to rewind the finish as I didn't catch it the first time but boy did that look like a clusterfuck just to get that belt off of Cage. Taz and the rest of his group were acting like they won the World title at WrestleMania and I was left scratching my head about the reaction. The title was already in their group and they were merely handing it off to someone else in the same goddamn group, despite the fact their falling out with Brian Cage. It just comes off really goddamn stupid. Then again, I would be jumping up and down too when I finally win something on Dynamite too when Team Taz has gone on for about a year without being able to win a high profile match on this show either.

I think kicking Cage out of this group is the worse decision here too. It should be Starks breaking out from Team Taz as he never fit in with the rest of those muscle guys/meatheads in the first place. Brian Cage shouldn't be on his own, especially when this company doesn't know jack shit about how to book big guys. We didn't even get to see how Cage and Hobbs would have performed as a tag team. I swear, they have completely shit the bed on Team Taz in my eyes from top to bottom.

My only issue with this segment is that it's painting an ugly picture that shows that Cody only wants to work with high profile names in this company to have the focus entirely on him. To his credit, Cody has a lot of great matches for those who want traditional wrestling matches and storytelling, but boy this is like going from the outhouse to the penthouse in terms of an upgrade in storylines that he has been regulated to lately though. That Nightmare Factory vs. Nightmare Family feud went absolutely nowhere, yet they are continuing to keep those guys as an unit when you could easily get more out of them going their own separate ways. To Cody and QT Marshall's credit in terms of wanting to give those guys the rub and attempt to elevate them, but a head-scratching feud with Cody and a string of losses on the heels end did nothing to get anyone over.

Let's hope that they don't fuck up Malakai Black upon entry here. I couldn't help but laugh that they are actually going for the same Jesus Christ vs. Satan imagery metaphor/symbolism that the Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker feud had about a decade ago.

Adam Page steps up to challenge Kenny Omega next for the AEW World Championship. I don't see where he's had any character growth at this point. He left The Elite or rather he was kicked out because he was bubbling drunk who cost him and Kenny Omega the AEW World Tag Team Championships, losing his friends in the process. Hangman continued to drink away his sorrows of losing his friends for months until unintentionally becoming the newfound friend and ally of The Dark Order, who only turned babyface to capitalize on the reactions that they were getting following Brodie Lee's tragic demise. Don't forget that The Dark Order were originally courting him for nefarious intentions/purposes. So I don't want to hear that shit about this was so great in terms of long term storytelling. Hangman's luck started to turn around in the ring as he started winning again, despite still being a drunk and having The Dark Order in his corner for moral support. Hangman reached the top of the rankings again and was given the confidence boost from his new friends to take what he deserves by beating Omega. So that's where we are today.

I think all of those guys in The Dark Order need to unmask and start taking themselves a bit more seriously. If they really want to honor Brodie Lee, then start tearing into guys and laying waste to them like he did in his final months. I want to see these lovable losers succeed - Hangman included - but not under this stupid gimmick.

Singles Match

Christian Cage def. Matt Hardy by pinfall

It's 2021 and for some reason, we're still reliving feuds from the Attitude Era. Like who in their right minds wants to see a Christian vs. Matt Hardy feud at this stage of their careers? This match was epitome of a bathroom break match on this card.

Singles Match

Sammy Guevara def. Wheeler Yuta (with Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy) by pinfall

I didn't understand why Wheeler Yuta was accompanied by the Best Friends, but whatever. I remember Yuta from last year's Ring of Honor Pure Tournament during their restart following the COVID-19 lockdowns/shutdowns, where he had a standout performance against Jonathan Gresham in that tournament. Yuta and Guevara didn't disappoint either as this was the best standard wrestling match all night.

Jesus Christ at this verbal burial of Nyla Rose AND Vickie Guerrero in one fell swoop. I remember watching this live and going, "I don't even fucking care about seeing the actual match next week. Britt Baker already won this off words alone." Too bad Britt Baker's ring work isn't as sharp as her silver tongue though. I have little to no enthusiasm to seeing her face Nyla Rose next week.

Singles Match

Yuka Sakazaki def. Penelope Ford by pinfall

When AEW first started, Yuka Sakazaki was one of my favorites out of the joshi imports that they were bringing in for their women's division. Then the global pandemic happened and AEW was unable to bring in the joshi talents regularly, if at all, until now. Travel restrictions have lightened up a little bit, but with cases spiking back up everywhere, I doubt we're going to get imported talents like this hanging around for long. That being said, I was glad to see Yuka back, but this was an easily forgettable match. Penelope Ford needs to stop dressing and looking like Lana/CJ Perry with her ring gear as it's getting confusing - or in my case, downright distracting. I want to know where are those people who were saying that Penelope Ford was one of the best workers in this women's division a few months ago. She's definitely not the worst out of the women that they have signed, but I think she would be better off sticking to the sidelines as a valet.

Coffin Match

Darby Allin def. Ethan Page

For this company's first ever coffin match, this was fine for what it was worth, but my favorite coffin/casket match will always be the first Grave Consequences match in Lucha Underground between Fenix and Mil Muertes. I just thought it was pretty stupid starting out that Darby ran into Page to kick start the match wearing a metal sheet/plate on his back like how Bret Hart did that time in WCW to protect himself from Goldberg's spear, but he took it right off only to do the same move at ringside without it. I thought that was counter-productive when it was already a no DQ match and he wanted to dish out as much punishment as possible to wear Page down to dump him into the coffin. The stupidity didn't stop there as they went through with a Razor's Edge/Crucifix Powerbomb onto the steel steps later into this match. I hate to say it but I would not be surprised if Darby end up having all kinds of back problems or end up paralyzed in a few more years from taking stupid bumps like this. If that wasn't bad enough, Darby hit a Coffin Drop onto the closed coffin after winning the match, driving himself completely through the wood. At that point, the only thing I could do was just shake my head by the time this show came to a close.

Afterthoughts:

Even I can admit that this was one of AEW's better shows, especially with the live fans in attendance adding to the excitement. That being said, I think the podcasters and AEW apologists who were raving about this show as if it was the best show that this company put out to day need to check if they have either taken their meds today or haven't been prescribed enough of them. This show still has the typical bland, boring moments and lazy booking as weeks past. The bright spots were far and few.

Night 2 (July 21, 2021)

Chairs Match

The stipulation only applied to Spears; Jericho had to wrestle under normal singles match rules.

Chris Jericho defeated Shawn Spears (with Tully Blanchard)

I have been pulling for the former Tye Dillinger to be a breakout star since he was on NXT, only to see his talents squandered in both NXT and WWE's main roster before he was released. Now AEW has gotten ahold of him and I'm slowly losing all faith in this guy. Sure, he's currently one of the moving parts in The Pinnacle, but as it stands he hasn't done a damn thing to make me care about him in this company.

The stipulation here only benefited Jericho by giving him more excuses to roll out to ringside and pander to the live crowd to hide how out of shape and severe lack of cardio he has at this stage of his career.

Singles Match

Doc Gallows (with Karl Anderson) defeated Frankie Kazarian

Kazarian is one of the most solid veteran workers on that roster, but nothing was going to make me care about him nor this match with Doc Gallows. I don't give a flying fuck about this "Elite Hunter" gimmick for Kazarian nor do I care about what Gallows and Anderson are doing in this company or in IMPACT. I hate sounding like a broken record, but the Good Brothers have done absolutely nothing for me since the tail end of their run prior to leaving from New Japan.

The post-match attack didn't do anything either with Kenny Omega joining the Good Brothers in beating the shit out Kazarian until Hangman Page walked out to make the save - holding his beer no less. Instead of handing his beer to Callis, he should've tossed it into the faces of the heels to blind them and gain the upper hand, but no. It didn't take much for Page to wind up on the losing end of that brawl until the Dark Order made the save. I forgot to mention in my comments for Night 1 that they added a stipulation to the match at Fight for the Fallen next week whereas if the team of Page and the Dark Order lose, neither one of them will get their desired AEW World and Tag Team Championship title shots. Do we really want to see the Dark Order beating the Bucks for the tag titles? Ugh. That could be a decent match depending on which members of the group that they use, but at the same time, we all know they aren't winning shit so that's just another tag team fed to the Bucks to stretch out their title reign until All Out.

I will give AEW credit though. They are burning this ongoing theme of Hangman being "afraid of failure" into this feud as that's been his ongoing story of his singles career in AEW since he lost his shot at being the first AEW World champion to Jericho.

How are audiences are supposed to remain interested in this feud when we know that Jericho is going to win all five of these exhibition matches/"The Five Trials of Jericho" for he can challenge MJF at all out? That question was answered for some people when Jericho picked up the win here and MJF announced that Nick Gage would be Jericho's opponent at Fight for the Fallen next week.

I can understand why they brought him in but at the same time, I wouldn't have that guy on my weekly television program, especially after all of his dirty laundry was aired on Dark Side of the Ring this season. After this episode of Dynamite, I was left with the impression that AEW are digging into the well of hardcore matches far too much to the point where it may be to their detriment over the long haul. To their credit, there's genuine interest to see what this nutcase is going to do in a high profile match against Chris Jericho on national television. I think they might have to put up either a disclaimer or start praying that this thing doesn't turn for the worse. I'm curious to know what TNT thinks of all of these gory matches on their channel popping up on a regular basis now.

Singles Match

Darby Allin (with Sting) defeated Wheeler Yuta (with Orange Cassidy)

Another nothing match, which was completely derailed by the randomness of Sting and Orange Cassidy trading those pathetic shin kicks to each other to the delight of the live crowd.

I'll say it again - I hate that Wheeler Yuta is being dragged down with the Best Friends for the rest of this tomfoolery.

Singles Match for the AEW Women's World Championship

Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (c) (with Rebel) defeated Nyla Rose (with Vickie Guerrero)

When Britt Baker did her brilliant promo on Night 1, I had already said that this match was won without even having this match take place. Well here we are and I don't feel any different. This felt like a complete clash of styles from start to finish as both women were to blame for making this awkward.

I get pissed off every single time I see Nyla Rose use that Diving Knee Drop to a rope-hung opponent and NEVER win a match with it. For a move that devastating and insanely awesome to look at, it makes both of them look bad two-fold. One for the fact that Nyla can't put anyone away with something that should be hospitalizing folks and the other being that Britt Baker isn't selling how devastating that move is, low key burying Nyla's monster offense in the process. I can't fault Britt too much in that regard as she's admitted that she is essentially getting on the job training in all of her AEW matches. She doesn't know better and we've seen Riho along with Yuka and a few others completely no sell that move too over the past year or so. It's almost to the point where that move doesn't mean shit.

Andrade comes out for the next segment and names Chavo Guerrero as his new executive consultant. I don't see this as much of an upgrade from Vickie Guerrero, but at least Chavo can come in there and work some matches with him as needed when someone needs to eat a pin as a heel tag team against the Death Triangle. I still feel like it's a missed opportunity that this company was unable to snatch up Salina de la Renta/Natalia Class after she left MLW to be Andrade's mouthpiece, especially since Zelina Vega/Thea Trinidad went crawling back to WWE. As much as I liked Andrade in WWE and NXT, he shouldn't be trying to do English promos. This was brutal to watch and this segment seemed to go on FOREVER.

The Death Triangle came out to get in Andrade's face but it seemed like they were running over on this segment and sent the referees and agents out there to wrap it up before both sides could stand off in the ring. I'm calling it now, but Pentagon and Fenix are turning on PAC and aligning themselves with Andrade. There's not a single doubt in my mind about that. It's just a matter of when and where.

I should mention that I thought it was hilarious that Andrade was going on and on about who Pentagon and Fenix work for when it's very ironic that he would bring that up knowing their MLW histories with Konnan and Salina de la Renta's Promociones Dorado faction. It just seemed so weird to throw that line in there without any context for people who may not be familiar with these guys outside of this company.

Singles Match

Orange Cassidy (with Kris Statlander) defeated The Blade (with The Bunny)

At this point of the show I had completely tuned this match out as I honestly didn't even care to see this match. I don't understand why this feud is getting so much TV time on Dynamite.

Texas Death Match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship

Match could be won by knockout or submission.

Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts) defeated Jon Moxley (c) by knockout

I've mentioned it time and time again that I'm not a fan of Moxley's in-ring style, but to his credit, him and Archer click well in this type of match. This was obviously a rematch of sorts for the very same title that he won from Archer prior to leaving New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom - in a similar match type, no less. I found myself taken out of the action when they were obviously taking moments to blade in front of the camera in plain view to get the color (or rather blood) for added drama in this match, but that's not necessary when I'm not buying into it when Moxley and Archer aren't taking this serious enough to not show me that they are cutting themselves and the curtain is being pulled back that the resulting blood is from their own doing and not as a result of the brutality of this match.

Afterthoughts:

In comparison to Night 1, Night 2 was definitely lacking in a lot of aspects, but they made up for it with a much needed win for Lance Archer. How long is he going to be holding that title is going to be the question as he's not a contracted wrestler employed by New Japan anymore, so he could be merely the transitional champion to get that belt back onto one of their guys. I still think that it was a massive mistake to bring KENTA all the way from Japan back in December and NOT do the title change then, but that's just my opinion. Archer's challenger is going to be New Japan's Hikuleo, a massive member of the Bullet Club faction. That dude made Archer look like a goddamn midget. Geez is he massive. Vince McMahon would've had an orgasm if he saw how big that guy was.

It should be noted that Britt Baker mentioned on Twitter that she suffered a broken wrist on Dynamite, but said that she won't miss any television time as a result of that injury. For her sake, I hope the injury doesn't get any worse and she can get some pointers from her boyfriend, Adam Cole, for how to work safely with a similar injury.

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